


Hobnobbing among the elite

by anamia



Series: The daemon!jolras AU [3]
Category: His Dark Materials - Philip Pullman, Les Misérables - All Media Types
Genre: Alternate Universe - Daemons, Gen, Petty Theft
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-05-29
Updated: 2013-05-29
Packaged: 2017-12-13 07:20:33
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,264
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/821550
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/anamia/pseuds/anamia
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Gavroche and his daemon have nothing better to do for the day, so they take a trip to the rich parts of Paris and have a little fun.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Hobnobbing among the elite

**Author's Note:**

> More of this AU can be found [here](http://kingedmundsroyalmurder.tumblr.com/tagged/daemon!jolras-AU) for those interested.

“You realize we’re going to get in trouble, don’t you?” Camille, currently in the form of a rat, scurried after Gavroche as he maneuvered through the sewers of Paris.

“Yeah, but think of how much fun it’ll be,” Gavroche answered. “Stop complaining and go see if there’s anyone coming.”

“One day you’ll wish you’d listened to me,” Camille muttered but she scampered ahead anyway, pressing her face to the grate leading back outside and sniffing the air. “Hurry up!”

Gavroche obliged, reaching the grate in a few short steps. He too peered out, verifying his dæmon’s observations.

“Okay, go,” she hissed, and he slipped out into the wide boulevards of the Faubourg Saint-Germain Camille joined him, lightening her fur now that they were back in the sunlight. No one took notice of their emergence, though several well dressed members of the upper class shuddered genteelly at the stench from the sewers emanating from his clothes and picked up their pace. Gavroche grinned, stuffing his hands in his pockets and blending expertly into the crowd. It was harder here, since his ragged clothes and bare feet stuck out far more than they did down in his patch, but he was nearly a professional. Camille had shifted into a toy poodle in order to tease the well bred dæmons who hurried past them, and her tongue lolled out of her mouth happily.

They wove their way through the crowd, sharp eyes alert for easy things to steal. They weren’t looking for anything in particular, but they’d be poor pickpockets indeed if they failed to come away with something from this mess of tourists and rich folks.

A terribly well bred woman looked down her nose at them as they passed her, pug dæmon shrinking away as though poverty and filth was contagious. Gavroche gave them a bright grin, making certain to expose his missing teeth.

“Penny for the poor?” he asked as Camille moved towards the woman’s dæmon, who shrank back farther. Camille snickered as the woman and her dæmon hurried away as quickly as they could manage in the crowd.

“None of them would last a second at home,” Camille observed, becoming a sparrow and fluttering up to perch on his shoulder.

“Course not,” Gavroche agreed. “But it’s not their fault, poor souls. They can’t help being born rich and stupid.”

Camille didn’t reply, just took off from his shoulder and rose to survey the crowd from above. Gavroche continued to amble through the tourists, helping himself to one unfortunate man’s pocket watch. It vanished into Gavroche’s rags and he slipped away from the victim even the man realized the theft and looked around furiously for the culprit. Camille flew down to join him, changed into a passable imitation of a rich person’s pampered kitten, and they turned down a side street and emerged in front of a well tended park. Gavroche and Camille glanced at each other, then Gavroche shrugged and hopped over the fence, whistling cheerfully but tunelessly. He ambled down the carefully groomed path, Camille racing out in front of him and then doubling back impatiently when she went too far.

They meandered for a while, passing several people just as well dressed as those they had just seen on the street. Most did not give the boy and his dæmon a second glance, though one young woman threw them a couple _sous_. Gavroche stuffed them into his pocket and kept going, Camille staying closer now that she had explored some.

One of the benches held a man fast asleep, his dæmon snoring lightly next to him. Gavroche and Camille exchanged glances and Camille turned to watch for oncoming tourists as Gavroche nimbly lifted the man’s hat off his head and jammed it onto his own. It was too big, but it stayed on more or less. He went through the sleeping man’s pockets with nimble fingers, relieving him of a purse and a silk handkerchief. Gavroche considered one of the rings that adorned the man’s plump hands but decided against it. He grinned at the sleeping man and skipped back. “Thank you kindly,” he said. “Your charity’s much appreciated.”

He and Camille continued on their way, wandering through the park as though they hadn’t a care in the world. When they reached the other end they once more clambered over the fence, almost losing the hat in the process. Gavroche scowled at it, pulling it more firmly over his ears.

“You may as well give that to ‘Parnasse,” Camille observed. “He’s got that new coat to wear it with.”

“Think he’d pay us?” Gavroche asked.

“He owes us a favor anyway,” Camille reminded him. “Remember, we played lookout for him the other day? I bet he’ll pay.”

“Remind me to ask him when we get home,” Gavroche said. Then, “Look sharp, police on the way.”

Camille’s tail went up and she stayed close to Gavroche’s side as both of them wove through the press of people to avoid the policemen. They did not seem to be looking for anyone in particular, but folks like Gavroche didn’t tangle with the likes of the police, especially not somewhere like here. A snatch of conversation caught their attention and Gavroche turned to see a pair of young dandies looking down their noses at him.

“…shouldn’t be allowed,” one of them was saying, while his fox dæmon nodded fervently. “Not here where decent folk come for a night out.”

“Quite so,” his companion said. “It’s disgusting.”

“Evening,” Gavroche said, grinning at them and offering a mocking bow. “Penny for the poor?”

The dandy with the fox dæmon sneered. “Get back to the gutter you came from,” he said. “And stay where you belong.”

“Aw, you wound me,” Gavroche said, sidling closer to them and enjoying the way they shuddered back. “I’m a sewer-rat, not a gutter one.” Camille nodded, becoming a rat once more to underscore his words and leering at the fox.

“Get away from us or I’ll help you along,” the other dandy threatened, brandishing an elegant cane. His dæmon, a singularly unremarkable pigeon, nodded.

Gavroche grinned, then darted in and snatched the man’s purse, stuffing it in his shirt with the stolen pocket watch and taking off down the street. “Thanks for your charity!” he called as the dandies yelled for the police.

“Go left,” Camille panted, once more a bird. Gavroche did as she bid, ducking into a side alley without slowing down.

They raced down another crowded boulevard, ignoring the shrieks of anger and surprise that they left in their wake as they wove between people’s legs. Behind them the heavy footsteps of at least two policemen were clearly audible, but Gavroche had outrun policemen far smarter than these and he hopped down into the sewers long before they came close to catching him. A little ways away from the entrance he paused to recover his breath, grinning.

“I told you there’d be trouble,” Camille said.

“Yeah, but it was fun, wasn’t it?” Gavroche asked.

Camille sighed. “Let’s get back home,” she said, shaking her head. “We’ve got more than enough for dinner.”

Gavroche started off again, this time walking at a much more sedate pace, the weight of the day’s haul reassuring in his pockets. They’d eat tonight, certainly, and for a while after if they were lucky. Gavroche started whistling again, pushing the hat up out of his eyes again while Camille became a sparrow and landed on his shoulder, taking the brim in her beak and holding it in place as they made their way back home.


End file.
